Cool cat culture: A black cat quiz for Halloween

Thursday

Oct 31, 2013 at 12:01 AM

How much do you know about black cats? Take our quiz, and you might just learn a feline fact or three.Though they can be cute and cuddly and warm and wonderful, black cats are often considered second class...

By Brett Weiss

How much do you know about black cats? Take our quiz, and you might just learn a feline fact or three.

Though they can be cute and cuddly and warm and wonderful, black cats are often considered second class citizens of the feline family. Especially around Halloween.

When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, they brought with them their superstitions, including their belief that black cats were familiars of — i.e., companions to — witches. Legend says that if a black cat crosses your path, it’s bad luck.

According to the Boston-based Black Cat Rescue organization (( http://blackcatrescue.com/ ), the coal-colored kitties are “only half as likely to get adopted as cats of other colors.” This statistic changes at many rescue shelters in October, when people are looking for Halloween props and decorations. Sadly, the cats often get returned (or worse), leading some shelters to disallow the adoption of black cats during the month.

To give black cats a little Halloween love, we’ve compiled a quiz to see how much you know about the furry felines in pop culture. Answer these questions and see if you got a purrrr-fect score at the end.

1. In the old “Felix the Cat” cartoons, the comical cat’s arch nemesis, The Professor, is always trying to steal his seemingly bottomless magic bag of tricks. What is the name of The Professor’s dog-faced sidekick?

a) Rocky

b) Krypto

c) Rock Bottom

d) Spike

2. “Black Cat” is a hit single off Janet Jackson’s fourth studio LP. What is the name of that album?

a) “Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814”

b) “Thriller”

c) “Janet Jackson”

d) “The Velvet Rope”

3. “The Black Cat,” the classic short story from 1843, was written, of course, by Edgar Allan Poe, one of the foremost masters of the macabre. What is the titular cat’s name?

a) Goofy

b) Mickey

c) Donald

d) Pluto

4. What Academy Award-winning actress played the title character in the critically panned “Catwoman” film from 2004?

a) Michelle Pfeiffer

b) Beyoncé Knowles

c) Scary Spice

d) Halle Berry

5. What is the name of the black cat in Neil Gaiman’s award-winning “Coraline” novella (2002), which was adapted for film in 2009?

a) Blackie

b) The cat has no name

c) Fluffy

d) ChaCha

6. The adventures of the silver-haired Black Cat, who has had an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Spider-Man, are published by what comic book company?

a) Marvel

b) DC

c) Dark Horse

d) Image

7. Universal’s “The Black Cat,” released in 1934, paired two of the biggest horror stars of the era: Boris Karloff and ------- .

a) Peter Lorre

b) Bela Lugosi

c) Lon Chaney

d) Christopher Lee

8. The Black Cat fireworks company, which introduced its products to the U.S. during the 1940s, was founded in what country?

a) Japan

b) Russia

c) Vietnam

d) China

9. Drummer Peter Criss, the black-clad Catman formerly of KISS, was replaced in the band in 1980 by the late Eric Carr, who assumed the persona of a Fox. Who currently wears the Catman makeup in KISS?

a) Eric Singer

b) Neil Peart

c) Ringo Starr

d) Lars Ulrich

10. In the TV show “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” which is based on the Archie comic-book series, Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart) owns a greedy black cat that can talk, sing and read. What is his name?

a) Salem

b) Sparky

c) Sylvester

d) Penelope

11. The cartoon family the Simpsons are often shown watching “The Itchy & Scratchy Show,” a cartoon-within-a-cartoon that is essentially a more violent version of “Tom and Jerry.” What Spinal Tap member voiced Scratchy the black cat?

a) Michael McKean

b) Christopher Guest

c) Harry Shearer

d) Gregg Bissonette

12. What is the name of the black cat in the long-running “Dorrie the Little Witch” series written by Patricia Combs?

4. D. Halle Berry. Berry, who won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in 2002’s “Monster’s Ball,” also won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her performance in “Catwoman.”

5. B. The cat has no name. Since cats don’t need names to tell one another apart (or so the cat claims), Coraline’s feline guide is nameless.